tour renzo piano londres

Renzo Piano

The Art of Making Buildings

15 September 2018 - 20 January 2019

The Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries

Daily 10am – 6pm Friday 10am – 10pm

£14 (without donation £12). Concessions available. Friends of the RA, and under 16s when with a fee-paying adult, go free.

Friends of the RA go free

From The Shard in London to the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the buildings of Renzo Piano have enriched cities across the globe. We reveal the vision and invention behind his pioneering work, showing how architecture can touch the human spirit.

United by a characteristic sense of lightness, and an interplay between tradition and invention, function and context, Piano’s buildings soar in the public imagination as they do in our skylines. Counting the New York Times Building and the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre in Nouméa among his creations, he has cemented his place as one of the greatest architects of our times.

This illuminating exhibition follows Piano’s career, from the influence of his Genoese heritage and his rise to acclaim alongside friend and collaborator Richard Rogers, to current projects still in the making. Focusing on 16 key buildings, it explores how the Renzo Piano Building Workshop designs buildings “piece by piece”, making deft use of form, material and engineering to achieve a precise and yet poetic elegance.

Marvel in rarely seen drawings, models, photography, signature full-scale maquettes and a new film by Thomas Riedelsheimer that show how inspiring architecture is made. At the heart of the exhibition is an imagined ‘Island’, a specially designed sculptural installation which brings together nearly 100 of Piano’s projects.

Designed and curated in close collaboration with Piano himself, join us for the first exhibition in London to put the spotlight on Piano in 30 years.

Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in collaboration with Renzo Piano Building Workshop and the Fondazione Renzo Piano.

Watch back: Renzo Piano in conversation Streamed live on our Facebook Page, watch Renzo Piano in conversation with journalist Razia Iqbal as he reflects on his long career and the role architecture plays in society.

Lead supporter

Supported by

Lighting partner

"No single architect has had more impact than Piano on the modern city centre."

Making buildings is a civic gesture and social responsibility. I believe passionately that architecture is about making a place for people to come together and share values.

Renzo Piano exhibition film

This 17-minute, dual-screen film installation was commissioned especially for the exhibition.

© Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2018. A film by Thomas Riedelsheimer.

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Read about Renzo

Renzo Piano: 8 buildings to know

12 September 2018

Renzo Piano: "my buildings are explorations"

10 September 2018

Richard Rogers on working with Renzo Piano: "His poet’s soul brought us through"

14 September 2017

Renzo Piano Building Workshop image

The shard, london bridge tower and london bridge place, london, 2012.

Renzo Piano image

The shard: a view from st thomas street, 2018.

Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Nouméa, 1998

Model of the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Nouméa ,

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2015

Drawing of the Whitney Museum of American Art, (longitudinal section),

Jérôme Seydoux Pathé Foundation, Paris, 2014

Sketch of the California Academy of Sciences, 2009

Build it like Renzo!

Fridays, 7 December – 20 January, 6.30-9pm 27 December – 1 January, all day

Renzo Piano and his team created a model imagined ‘island’ of over 100 of his buildings for his inspiring exhibition. For the final six weeks of the show, we’re inviting you to get hands-on and create your own architectural masterpieces. Every Friday until the exhibition closes, and all day between Christmas and New Year, we’ll have a free table of Lego in our Burlington Gardens entrance hall. You can use drawings and designs on the table for ideas, or just follow your imagination.

Your creations will only last the night before we have to take them down, so remember to share them with us on social using #BuildItLikeRenzo .

Happy building!

Large print guide

• Download a large print guide to the exhibition

Become a Friend to see for free

Young friend, joint friend.

Discounted tickets via The View from the Shard

We’ve teamed up with The Shard to offer 20% off Renzo Piano: The Art of Making Buildings exhibition tickets when visiting The View from the Shard. Simply add your Renzo Piano tickets onto your booking when purchasing a visit to the Shard, online or in person. You can then visit the exhibition any time until 20 January 2019.

Architecture Programme

Renzo Piano is part of the RA’s wider Architecture Programme, which consistently pushes boundaries and inspires fresh thinking. Join us throughout the year for lectures by leading international architects, panel discussions and awards, poetry readings and immersive musical experiences – all that, on top of free curated displays in our new Architecture Studio.

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The Shard - London Bridge Tower, London

• Typologies Tower 
• Date 2000 - 2012
• City London 
• Country United Kingdom 
• Photographer Michel Denancé  Daniel Hewitt  Rob Telford   Jason Hawkes Aerial Photography 

The London Bridge Tower, also known as the Shard, is a 72-public storey, mixed-use tower located beside London Bridge Station on the south bank of the River Thames. This project was a response to the urban vision of London Mayor Ken Livingstone and to his policy of encouraging high-density development at key transport nodes in London. This sort of sustainable urban extension relies on the proximity of public transportation, discourages car use, and helps to reduce traffic congestion in the city.

A mix of uses – residential, offices, and retail – creates a building that is in use 24 hours a day. The slender, pyramidal form of the tower was determined by its suitability to this mix: large floor plates at the bottom for offices; restaurants, public spaces, and a hotel located in the middle; private apartments at the top of the building. The final floors accommodate a public viewing gallery, 240 meters above street level. This arrangement of functions also allows the tower to taper off and disappear into the sky, a particularly important detail for RPBW given the building’s prominence on the London skyline.

The extra-white glass used on the Shard gives the tower a lightness and a sensitivity to the changing sky around it, the Shard’s color and mood are constantly changing. It required a particular technical solution to ensure the facade’s performance in terms of controlling light and heat. A double-skin, naturally ventilated facade with internal blinds that respond automatically to changes in light levels was developed. The logic is very simple: external blinds are very effective in keeping solar gain out of a building, but unprotected external blinds are not appropriate for a tall building, hence the extra layer of glass facade on the outside.

Eight sloping glass facades, the ‘shards,’ define the shape and visual quality of the tower, fragmenting the scale of the building and reflecting the light in unpredictable ways. Opening vents in the gaps or ‘fractures’ between the shards provide natural ventilation to winter gardens.

The project also includes the redevelopment of the train station concourse and bus station. The existing roof is to be removed and replaced with a glazed canopy, and retail units relocated to open up visual connections between the train station, bus station and taxi ranks. Such improvements to the public realm are vital to the regeneration of this part of the city and will provide the catalyst to further redevelopment in the area.

Obra Work Torre London Bridge The Shard-London Bridge Tower

Cliente Client Sellar Property Group

Arquitectos Architects Renzo Piano Building Workshop, en colaboración con in collaboration with Adamson Associates 

Colaboradores   Collaborators Fase 1?Phase 1 (2000-2003): J. Moolhuijzen (socio responsable partner in charge ), N. Mecattaf, W. Matthews with D.Drouin, A.Eris, S.Fowler, H.Lee, J. Rousseau, R.Stampton, M.van der Staay and K.Doerr, M. Gomes, J. Nakagawa, K. Rottova, C. Shortle; O.Aubert, C.Colson, Y.Kyrkos (maquetas models ); Arup (estructuras structure and services ); Lerch, Bates & Associates (ascensores vertical transportation ); Broadway Malyan (arquitecto colaborador consulting architect )

Fase 2?Phase 2 (2004-2012): J. Moolhuijzen (socio responsable partner in charge ), W. Matthews (asociado associate in charge ), B. Akkerhuis, G. Bannatyne, E. Chen, G. Reid with O. Barthe, J. Carter, V. Delfaud, M. Durand, E. Fitzpatrick, S. Joly, G. Longoni, C. Maxwell-Mahon, J.B. Mothes, M. Paré, J. Rousseau, I. Tristrant, A. Vachette, J. Winrow and O. Doule, J. Leroy, L. Petermann; O. Aubert, C. Colson, Y. Kyrkos (maquetas models )

Consultores Consultants WSP Cantor Seinuk (estructuras structure ); Arup (instalaciones building services ); Lerch, Bates & Associates (ascensores vertical transportation ); Davis Langdon (control de presupuesto cost consultan t); Townshend Architects (paisajismo landscape ); Pascall+Watson (arquitecto de la estación executive architect for the station )

Altura Height 305 m / 72 plantas 72 floors

Superficie construida Built-up area 126,712 m²

Fotos Photos Rob Telford; Jason Hawkes Aerial Photgraphy; Michel Denancé; Daniel Hewitt / VIEW

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The Architect's Eye: Renzo Piano's The Shard in London

Photography by Lee F. Mindel, FAIA

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Renzo Piano’s Shard building.

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Another skyward view.

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Looking up from the base of the tower.

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An architectural detail seen from the base looking up.

By Katherine McLaughlin

By Perri Ormont Blumberg

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The varied heights add interest.

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A glass entry canopy.

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Steel beams in the same space.

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The glass-enclosed stairway seen from the triple-height observation deck.

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The second floor of the observation deck’s core structure is a bold red.

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Another view of the vibrant red walls.

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The view over London from the observation deck’s second floor.

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An open-air view overlooking the Thames.

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The building was informally named the Shard by critics, but the moniker has since been embraced by its owners.

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Curtain-wall details in the same space.

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The building casts a shadow over London’s Tower Bridge.

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At the very top, among the dramatic glass-and-steel points.

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Ascending to the uppermost observation deck.

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Three views from the top reveal the building’s fragmented details.

By Katherine Burns Olson

By Mayer Rus

Shard. London Bridge Quarter

“The Shard,” the fifth volume of the series of monographs devoted to iconic buildings by Renzo Piano, was issued in 2012 and in 2017.

The London Bridge Tower, known as the “Shard,” was inaugurated in July 2012. Rising to 309 meters, today it is Europe’s tallest building. Conceived and built as a small vertical city, the tower is a living and vibrant presence in London’s sky. This volume tells the story of an astonishing project, from the first conjectural designs to construction work and the official inauguration.

The book presents a large and exclusive selection of sketches made by Renzo Piano, elevations, plans and sections of the project, study models, prototypes and site photos, with direct testimony of the architects who took part in this extraordinary adventure. Renzo Piano's text tells in person the story of a building that has already become a symbol of London.

Technical Information

Closed size: 28x28 cm

Description: 216 pages, printed in 4 colors + paint Cover with double inside flap. 

Languages: Italian/English

ISBN code:  978-88-6264-006-0  Italian/English  2012 978-88-6264-014-5  Italian/English  2017

Volume edited by

Conception and development

Lia Piano and Franco Origoni with Joost Moolhuizen, William Matthews, and Elena Spadavecchia

With the participation of

Renzo Piano Building Workshop – Bart Hakkerhuis, Stefania Canta, Chiara Casazza, Eileen Chen; Renzo Piano Foundation – Nicoletta Durante, Giovanna Giusto

Graphic design and layout

Franco Origoni and Anna Steiner with Roberta Cesani

Translation

Miranda Westwood and Verto Group srl

Renzo Piano Foundation

STRUCTURES INSIDER

• Feb 12, 2023

Architectural Review of the Shard | London | Renzo Piano

Updated: Mar 2, 2023

Irvine Sellar, the Shard's developer and joint owner, wanted to create an architecturally stunning vertical city with retail, offices, hotel, apartments, restaurants, and a public viewing gallery. His goal was to create a diverse, vibrant community and offer multiple spaces for visitors to enjoy the building and its stunning views. And all of this right in the middle of one of London's most important transportation hubs.

In November 1998, Sellar invested in PwC-occupied Southwark Towers. After the UK government encouraged high-density projects near transit hubs, Sellar began designing a world-class building that would fascinate people. He set up a lunch meeting in Berlin with the award-winning architect Renzo Piano, and according to Sellar, the architect's initial reaction was not particularly encouraging.

But he was drawn to the vibrancy of the railway lines and the beauty of the Thames for some reason. Consequently, Renzo flipped over his menu and started to sketch. What he drew in seconds is remarkably similar to The Shard today.

Renzo Piano designed The Shard as a sculpture that rises out of the River Thames, drawing inspiration from the spires of London churches and the masts of tall ships shown by the 18th-century Venetian painter Canaletto.

The building's thin pyramidal form was tuned to its mix of uses; offices occupy the enormous floor plates on levels 4-28 and are directly connected to the busy transport hub on the ground floor. Right above are three floors of restaurants and bars. The hotel is located in the central section of the building, with the apartments above, where the building is thin enough for flats to have views on all sides. The final levels accommodates the UK's tallest public viewing galleries, which are 240 metres above street level.

Given the building's prominent position on the London skyline, Piano placed a particular emphasis on the building's stunning glass and steel spire, which tops the structure at a height of 95 stories (310 metres). The spire gradually tapers off and disappears into the sky.

The tower's shape and visual quality are determined by eight sloping glass facades, called "shards," which fragment the building's scale and reflect light in unpredictable ways. Opening vents in the spaces between the shards, sometimes known as "fractures," allows for natural air to be provided to winter gardens.

Piano's idea was based on the idea of lightness and transparency. To bring this concept into action, a very creative use of glass was required. The proper application of additional white glass by Piano as well as the expressive facades give the tower a sense of lightness and a sensitivity to the always changing sky around it. Because of this, the atmosphere and colours of The Shard change constantly with the seasons and the weather.

A special technical solution was required to ensure that the facade worked properly in terms of managing how much light and heat entered the structure. A double-skinned, naturally ventilated facade with internal blinds that alter their position in response to variations in the amount of light available was designed.

It is because of the outstanding architecture that one million people visited The Shard's viewing platform in its first year; up to 6,000 people per day visit the Shard's restaurants and bars; tens of thousands are projected to visit the Shangri-La hotel; its office occupiers are reporting a significant increase in new business since moving in; and Londoners, in particular, appreciate this spectacular structure.

Learn about the Main Designer and Main Contractor of the Shard

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/the-shard/451

https://www.the-shard.com/about/vision

https://www.wsp.com/en-qa/projects/the-shard

https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/The_Shard

https://global.ctbuh.org/resources/papers/download/917-engineering-tall-in-historic-cities-the-shard.pdf

• Design & Architecture

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renzo piano: the shard in london opens to public

situated at the top on floors 68, 69 and 72 are platforms, with the one on the uppermost level standing at twice the height of any other viewing deck in london offering panoramic lookouts of 64 km (40 miles). here, at the highest public level, 244m above ground – accessed by elevators travelling approximately 6 meters per second – one will experience the structural pieces of the glass that form the top of ‘the shard’ and disappear into the sky. a centerpiece to the 2 million square meter development, the 72-storey mixed-use tower was inaugurated with a nighttime light show, which combined 12 lasers and 30 searchlights to celebrate the skyline’s newest addition. read more about ‘the shard’ and see images of the construction phase on designboom here .

project info:

country +start/end date: london (uk), 2000 -2012 client: sellar property group destination of use: offices, residential, hotel, restaurant, café, commercial total floor area: 126.712 sqm (gross); 83.104 sqm (net) height: 306m / 72 public floors / 87 total gross floor area: 126,712 m² / 1,374,692 sqft offices: levels 4-28 : 55,277 m² / 595,000 sqft restaurant: levels 31-33 : 2,608 m² / 28,073 sqft hotel: levels 34-52 : 17,562 m² / 189,037 sqft – 200 rooms leased to shangri-la hotels residential: levels 53-65 : 5,788 m² / 62,302 sqft – 10 apartments viewing gallery: levels 68-72 : 1,391 m²/14,973 sqft car parking: 48 spaces in car stacking machine lifts: 44 lifts + 8 escalators staircases: 306 flights gross floor area: 31.4 acres the piece: glass panels how many pieces: 11.000

joint owner: state of qatar joint owner: sellar property group funding: qatar national bank developer: sellar property group
 architect: renzo piano building workshop
 principal contractor: mace
 project manager: turner & townsend
 quantity surveyor: davis langdon structural engineer: wsp cantor seinuk
 services engineer (the shard): ove arup and partners services engineer (the place): wsp buildings commercial agents (the shard): knight frank, jones lang lasalle commercial agents (the place): cbre, colliers international

* we have updated this article originally published on july 6th, 2012 with additional images and info.

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The genius behind some of the world's most famous buildings

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The Shard | Renzo Piano Building Workshop Architects

Well, after three years of controversy and critics as well as proponents chiming in, London’s Shard skyscraper, designed by Renzo Piano, is complete. And they’re celebrating.

photography by © Michel Denancé

Prime Minister of Qatar Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani and Duke of York Prince Andrew Albert Edward will together inaugurate the building before a massive laser show lights up the night, accompanied by music played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It is an interesting fact that Qatar owns around 95% of the tower- but hey! 5% of the building’s 1,106 ft of height comes out to just 55.3 feet, so the British building is really on scale with the rest of the city!

Courtesy of Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Located on the southern bank of the Thames each of the building’s 72 floors, sky gardens overlook the city for some 40 miles on a clear day, and provide natural light and ventilation to the interiors. These interiors will consist of a mix of office, retail, and residential programs as well as luxury hotels and restaurants. Oh yes, and it is now the tallest building in Western Europe. Cheers!

© Renzo Piano

Tags: Renzo Piano Renzo Piano Building Workshop Renzo Piano Building Workshop Architects Tallest Skyscraper

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Moscow Metro

The Moscow Metro Tour is included in most guided tours’ itineraries. Opened in 1935, under Stalin’s regime, the metro was not only meant to solve transport problems, but also was hailed as “a people’s palace”. Every station you will see during your Moscow metro tour looks like a palace room. There are bright paintings, mosaics, stained glass, bronze statues… Our Moscow metro tour includes the most impressive stations best architects and designers worked at - Ploshchad Revolutsii, Mayakovskaya, Komsomolskaya, Kievskaya, Novoslobodskaya and some others.

What is the kremlin in russia?

The guide will not only help you navigate the metro, but will also provide you with fascinating background tales for the images you see and a history of each station.

And there some stories to be told during the Moscow metro tour! The deepest station - Park Pobedy - is 84 metres under the ground with the world longest escalator of 140 meters. Parts of the so-called Metro-2, a secret strategic system of underground tunnels, was used for its construction.

During the Second World War the metro itself became a strategic asset: it was turned into the city's biggest bomb-shelter and one of the stations even became a library. 217 children were born here in 1941-1942! The metro is the most effective means of transport in the capital.

There are almost 200 stations 196 at the moment and trains run every 90 seconds! The guide of your Moscow metro tour can explain to you how to buy tickets and find your way if you plan to get around by yourself.

Moscow Metro Tour

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Description

Moscow metro private tours.

• 2-hour tour $87:  10 Must-See Moscow Metro stations with hotel pick-up and drop-off
• 3-hour tour $137:  20 Must-See Moscow Metro stations with Russian lunch in beautifully-decorated Metro Diner + hotel pick-up and drop off. 
• Metro pass is included in the price of both tours.

Highlight of Metro Tour

• Visit 10 must-see stations of Moscow metro on 2-hr tour and 20 Metro stations on 3-hr tour, including grand Komsomolskaya station with its distinctive Baroque décor, aristocratic Mayakovskaya station with Soviet mosaics, legendary Revolution Square station with 72 bronze sculptures and more!
• Explore Museum of Moscow Metro and learn a ton of technical and historical facts;
• Listen to the secrets about the Metro-2, a secret line supposedly used by the government and KGB;
• Experience a selection of most striking features of Moscow Metro hidden from most tourists and even locals;
• Discover the underground treasure of Russian Soviet past – from mosaics to bronzes, paintings, marble arches, stained glass and even paleontological elements;
• Learn fun stories and myths about Coffee Ring, Zodiac signs of Moscow Metro and more;
• Admire Soviet-era architecture of pre- and post- World War II perious;
• Enjoy panoramic views of Sparrow Hills from Luzhniki Metro Bridge – MetroMost, the only station of Moscow Metro located over water and the highest station above ground level;
• If lucky, catch a unique «Aquarelle Train» – a wheeled picture gallery, brightly painted with images of peony, chrysanthemums, daisies, sunflowers and each car unit is unique;
• Become an expert at navigating the legendary Moscow Metro system;
• Have fun time with a very friendly local;
• + Atmospheric Metro lunch in Moscow’s the only Metro Diner (included in a 3-hr tour)

Hotel Pick-up

Metro stations:.

Komsomolskaya

Novoslobodskaya

Prospekt Mira

Belorusskaya

Mayakovskaya

Novokuznetskaya

Revolution Square

Sparrow Hills

+ for 3-hour tour

Victory Park

Slavic Boulevard

Vystavochnaya

Dostoevskaya

Elektrozavodskaya

Partizanskaya

Museum of Moscow Metro

• Drop-off  at your hotel, Novodevichy Convent, Sparrow Hills or any place you wish
• + Russian lunch  in Metro Diner with artistic metro-style interior for 3-hour tour

Fun facts from our Moscow Metro Tours:

From the very first days of its existence, the Moscow Metro was the object of civil defense, used as a bomb shelter, and designed as a defense for a possible attack on the Soviet Union.

At a depth of 50 to 120 meters lies the second, the coded system of Metro-2 of Moscow subway, which is equipped with everything you need, from food storage to the nuclear button.

According to some sources, the total length of Metro-2 reaches over 150 kilometers.

The Museum was opened on Sportivnaya metro station on November 6, 1967. It features the most interesting models of trains and stations.

Coffee Ring

The first scheme of Moscow Metro looked like a bunch of separate lines. Listen to a myth about Joseph Stalin and the main brown line of Moscow Metro.

Zodiac Metro

According to some astrologers, each of the 12 stops of the Moscow Ring Line corresponds to a particular sign of the zodiac and divides the city into astrological sector.

Astrologers believe that being in a particular zadiac sector of Moscow for a long time, you attract certain energy and events into your life.

Paleontological finds 

Red marble walls of some of the Metro stations hide in themselves petrified inhabitants of ancient seas. Try and find some!

• Every day each car in  Moscow metro passes  more than 600 km, which is the distance from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
• Moscow subway system is the  5th in the intensity  of use (after the subways of Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai).
• The interval in the movement of trains in rush hour is  90 seconds .

What you get:

• + A friend in Moscow.
• + Private & customized Moscow tour.
• + An exciting pastime, not just boring history lessons.
• + An authentic experience of local life.
• + Flexibility during the walking tour: changes can be made at any time to suit individual preferences.
• + Amazing deals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the very best cafes & restaurants. Discounts on weekdays (Mon-Fri).
• + A photo session amongst spectacular Moscow scenery that can be treasured for a lifetime.
• + Good value for souvenirs, taxis, and hotels.
• + Expert advice on what to do, where to go, and how to make the most of your time in Moscow.

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Tour of famous Moscow Metro. Explore the Underground World! (2 hours)

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On this tour you take in some of Moscow's most important and highly decorated stations. Carrying up to 7 million passengers a day and covering almost the entire city, the Moscow Metro is one of the most extensive mass transit systems in the world. It's famous for the fine examples of social-realism which decorate many of its stations.

Visit some of the most important stations and get the chance to admire spectacular baroque-style ceilings, marble statues, busts of Communist heroes, stained glass windows, and ceiling mosaics depicting the bright Soviet future. Visit the most remarkable stations like Komsomolskaya, Kurskaya, Kievskaya and others, with the experienced guide who will bring you a full insight into their fascinating history.

• Tour of Moscow's Metro system visiting beautifully decorated key stations on the network.
• System that carries more than 7 million passengers per day
• Views of the most opulently designed tunnels & platforms
• Significance to the country—known as the “People's Palace”
• History & stories relayed by an expert local guide

If you wonder why the Moscow metro is considered one the most beautiful in the world, this tour is made for you!

Important info

Ask a travel expert.

• Professional English-speaking guide assistance. Other languages upon request (additional charge may apply)
• Hotel pick-up and drop-off
• Personal expenses
• Gratuities (optional)
• Food and drinks
• Confirmation will be received at time of booking
• Children must be accompanied by an adult

Departure and return point: nearest metro station to your central Moscow hotel  

Departure time:  flexible

Sights included in program

Thanks ! We will reply you in less than 24 hours (usually within 1-2 hours) .

Our flexible payment options allow you to pay 20% of a deposit first and the remaining 80% in 14 days prior to your tour date - payment can be done both online or over the phone. This gives you the peace of mind knowing your spaces are booked on the tours and that you do not miss out on making the most of your time in Russia.

Also you get the best, top-rated and most experienced and knowledgeable hand-picked tour guide appointed on a priority basis. In our experience, exceptional travel experiences are almost always delivered by exceptional people. With that in mind, we utilize a comprehensive approach to select and employ the best tour guides only. Multilingual and well travelled, each possesses deep insight into the diverse attractions and cultural patterns throughout the region. With us guides undergo a rigorous selection process, achieving outstanding knowledge of local culture and language. Rest assured that the best tour guides only will be working on the tours to give you excellent opportunity to explore the best of the sights during both short and long-term stay in Russia.

Once you complete your reservation, we will send you a booking confirmation email. As the day of the tour approaches, our logistics team will provide you with all relevant information for your tour.

Speak  to an expert Call us now

+1 (888) 845-8877

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Contact our experts, and they will help you to plan your best trip to Russia, with attention to every detail!

Our Experts have been in the travel industry for many years, guarantee to offer first class customer service, excellent value for money and unbiased advice. They are standing by to find and build your dream holiday to one of the world's most fascinating destinations - Russia. Your personal Travel Expert will guide you through each stage of the travel process, from choosing a program that fits you best to support during your trip.

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Update: The Shard / Renzo Piano

• Written by Kelly Minner
• Published on April 12, 2011

The 70-story mixed use tower even while under construction is the tallest building in London’s skyline. Adjacent to London Bridge Station, the building offers increased density to a major public transport node, a key to and suggestive of future London development. London based architectural photographer Andy Spain shared with us photographs he took a few weeks ago of The Shard under construction. Be sure to take a look at our previous coverage of The Shard .

More images after the break, including drawings and renderings from Renzo Piano Building Workshop .

Architects: Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration with Adamson Associates Location: London, England Client: Sellar Property Group

Improving the efficiency of the public transport systems and maximising the use of space around the resultant nodes are essential. This view is being actively promoted by Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London. Given the site’s location above one of London’s key commuter stations, bus interchange and 2 main Tube lines, a high density development was deemed not only possible but desirable.

The building will be 306 metres tall with a total floor area of 90,000 square metres. Conceived like a small vertical town in which ten thousand people will work and more will commute to and from, the tower is a holistic response to the sustainable development of the European city.

Designed like a sharp crystal pyramid, the building is meant to be a light and elegant presence in London’s skyline. Inspiration for the shape comes from the spires of London’s churches and the top sails of the ships that used to moor on the Thames. The plan is generated by the irregular nature of the site. Each facet forms a shard, a plane of glass gently inclined inwards, rising towards the top. The corners are open and the shards do not touch, allowing the building to breathe. In turn the glass surface fragments as it rises and the tower dissolves into the sky.

Also, a building of this scale must be accessible, open to the public, giving Londoner’s the feeling that the building belongs to them. All of the lower levels are given over to public functions and public viewing platforms are situated at the mid and top levels.

The variable size of the floor plates is ideal for a mixed use development. At the bottom the large deep floor plates are for offices, the middle floors an apartment hotel and the top floors apartments.

Through the extensive use of the latest energy saving techniques and materials, the building will need 30% less energy than typically required by conventional tall buildings.

A ventilated double skin façade will considerably reduce heat gain and increase comfort levels close to the facade while permitting the maximum natural day light. Excess heat generated by the offices will be used to heat the hotel and apartments. Any additional excess will be dissipated naturally through a radiator at the top of the tower. Naturally ventilated winter gardens with operable louvre windows will be located on each floor and will allow the occupants to connect with the outside environment.

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